Seal hanger



wil

Jan. 12, 1954 F. D. MOYER ET AL 2,665,819

SEAL HANGER Filed Feb. 2, 1950 Patented Jan. 12, 1954 SEAL HANGER Frederick D. Moyer and Jack L. Scholbe, Chicago,

IlL, assignors to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, a corporation of Illinois Application February 2, 1950, Serial No. 142,020

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a seal hanger for supporting a seal in a floating roof tank.

In floating roof tanks, a roof is constructed to float on the liquid stored in the tank with the roof having a relatively small space around its periphery separating it from the walls of the tank. An often used sealing member is constructed to slidingly engage the walls of the tank with the sealing member being supported by means attached to the floating roof so that the sealing member slides on the tank walls with any rise or fall of the floating roof. Previous seal hangers, such as shown in the application of Wilber, Serial No. 637,016, filed December 22, 1945, have been found faulty in continued use in that they have become fouled with dirt and grit and have failed in operation. This invention presents a seal hanger which obviates the dimcultie heretofore attendant with such supports for a seal in a floating roof tank.

An embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a seal hanger of this invention as installed on a floating roof tank;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 33 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing fragmentarily a portion of the tank wall and floating roof with a seal hanger in operative position thereon.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4 a floating roof I spaced from the side wall I I is adapted to float on the liquid I2 in the tank. A sealing member I3,

in the form of a metallic shoe comprising a flat sheet of material having flexures I4 therein, is formed to be pressed against the side wall II of the tank and an impregnated flexible fabric I5 seals the space between the sealing member I3 and the floating roof II]. In order to eiiectively seal the space between the floating roof I0 and the side wall II of the tank the sealing member I 3 must be pressed against the wall I I of the tank with suflicient force to effect a seal against the wall. A spreading bar I6 is attached at spaced points (not shown) to the sealing member I3 and is forced outwardly against the shell of the tank by the seal hanger 20 hereinafter described.

The seal hanger 20 is supported on the top 2I of a floating roof II). A plate 22 is adjustably held in a position above the top of the floating roof 2| by three posts 23 having a pair of nuts 24 threaded on each post and positioned both above and below the plate 22. The top 2I of the floating roof I0 may not always be level so that the 2 three posts 23 with the associated nuts 24 on either side of the plate 22 may be adjusted to place the plate 22 in a horizontal position.

Mounted on the plate 22 is a U-shaped support 25 having the base 26 of the U resting against the plate 22. A bolt 21 extends through both the plate 22 and the base 26 of the support 25 and has an expansion washer 28 positioned on the lower side of the plate 22 to hold the support 25 and plate 22 in frictional engagement. In this manner the support 25 is free to rotate about a substantially vertical axis passing through the center of the bolt 21.

The main portion of the seal hanger comprises a plate bent into the shape of a channel member 30 having an open bottom 3| and welded or otherwise fastened to the support 25 at one end. End plates 32 are welded in the ends of the inverted U-shaped channel member 30 and have an opening 33 therein for admitting the seal supportmember 40. A roller 34 is mounted on the inner end of the channel member 30 so that the axis 35 of the roller is positioned beyond the end of the channel member and is supported by a bracket 35 welded or otherwise fastened to the top of the member 30. A similar roller 31 is supported by a bracket 38 attached to the outer end of the member 30 adjacent the support 25. The rollers support and help guide the seal support member 40 as hereinafter described.

The sealing member I3 is pressed against the side walls of the tank II by the action of the seal support member 40 and is also supported by said member. The seal support member 40 may be a tubular pipe telescoped within the channel member 30 through the apertures 33 in the end plates 32 and rolling on the rollers 34 and 31. The seal support member 40 is provided with a pair of detents 4| against which a compression spring 42 bears. The spring 42 also bears against the inner end plate 32 to force the seal support member 40 outwardly from the channel member 30 toward the side wall I I of the tank. The outer end 43 of the member 40 is flattened and has a threaded aperture 44 therein. The flattened end 43 extends through a slot 45 in the spreading bar It and is engaged by the threads of a bolt 46 loosely extending through apertures in the legs of the spreader bar I6. A spring 41 bears against the lower side of the spreader bar I5 and the head of the bolt 46 for the purpose of distributing the load of the sealing member I3 evenly among 1allltche seal hangers employed in one floating roof As the weight of the sealing member I3 is placed on the seal support member 48 the member 40 bears downwardly against the front or outer roller 37 and upwardly against the inner roller 34, while the compression spring 42 exerts the necessary outward force on the member M to hold the sealing member IS in close contact with the wall H of the tank. The floating roof it may shift its position within, the walls of the tank so that-more space between the roof and side walls may at a given time be present on one side of the tank than is present on the other side of the tank. The compression spring 42 has the tendency to return the floating roof to the center of the tank and regardless of the positioning of the floating roof ID with-imthe. tank, has sufiicient force to press the sealing member 13 against the side Walls. Should the floating roof [5. rotate slightly within the tank the seal hanger will pivot about its support and continue to press the sealing member 13 against the side walls. Usual- 1y a means is provided to. keep the roof from rotating within. the tank and may take the form of a vertically extending track running in a corresponding groove associated with the roof. Under normal conditions of use the seal hanger is directed radially against the side walls of the tank and will normally assume that position.

The seal hanger is usually mounted on the roof as a. unit and then the sealing member 13 fastened thereto. Before installing the seal hanger on the floating roof, the seal support member 38 is pulled against the spring 42 until openings 63 appear outside the channel member 39 and a rod (not shown) is inserted in the openings 48 to bear against the end of the channel member to coo the seal hanger. After the hanger is installed and the fiat end 43 is attached to the spreader member l5, the rod is removed and the seal hanger allowed to press the member i3 against the side wall of the tank.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood. therefrom butthe invention, should be. construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A seal hanger for a floating roof tank comprising, an upwardly flat base adapted to be attached to the roof, a support mounted on the base for rotational movement about a substantially vertical axis, an elongated channel member having an open bottom and mounted on the support, said support having a U-shape with the base of the U riding on the fiat base and the upper ends of the U welded to said channel member, a seal support telescoped into said channel member and spring means within the channel member urging the seal support outwardly from the channel member.

2. In a floating roof tank, a hanger means to be secured to the upper exposed side or" the floating roof for supporting a sealing member against the shell of the tank, comprising, a substantially horizontal pipe pivotally attached to and supporting the sealing member, a downwardly open channel member positioned over the pipe and having end plates with openings about the pipe admitting the pipe longitudinally of the channel member, a roller secured at each end of the channel member and having spaced parallel side bearing plates with the inner roller over the pipe and the outer roller under the pipe to provide rolling support for the pipe, and a pivotal support for the channel member including a pedestal and an upright U-shaped bracket pivoted at the base of the U to the pedestal and secured. to the channel member at the free ends of the legs, said channel member and rollers being downwardly open whereby dirt, grit, etc. may fall from the hanger to the roof.

FREDERICK D. MOYER. JACK L. SCHOLBE;

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,989,624 Matter Jan. 29, 1935 2,313,856 Wiggins Mar. 16, 1943 2,437,125 Plummer Mar. 2, 1948 2,495,755 Orr Jan. 31, 1950 2,537,987 Goldsby et al Jan. 16, i 

